What Special Education Teachers Wish You Knew

Working long hours, using your own money to pay for classroom materials, and struggling to engage students who are ready for summer vacation—yes, doing all that makes teaching a tough job. Now add the challenge of getting kids with learning disabilities like dyslexia on track academically, plus endless meetings and mountains of paperwork, and you’ll have the role of a special education teacher. But here’s a secret: The people who work with kids in special ed do it because really, really love their work.

[quote position="full" is_quote="true"]I wish everyone knew how much our students want to learn and how they try.[/quote]

That’s what becomes evident when you watch this short video created by The Mighty, which asked the special educators in their community to answer a question: “What’s one secret about your job you wish the rest of the world knew?” They compiled the responses from about two dozen teachers onto Post-its and let the words speak for themselves.

The Post-its feature plenty of real talk all educators can relate to—no, do NOT send a sick kid to school—as well as inspiring truths about how rewarding it is to teach kids with learning disabilities. “I wish everyone knew how much our students want to learn and how they try,” wrote one teacher.

And perhaps some of the people who view this video will want to learn more about exactly what special ed teachers do. After all, the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services reports that 49 out of 50 states are facing a shortage of qualified special ed teachers, so folks who feel the same passion as the educators in this clip are needed.